Help with a Car Mate camper

[jazzbo]

Hi !
I'm brand new to this forum and new to "camper" camping as well and would really appreciate some help.  I recently acquired a smaller travel trailer here in central PA made by Travel Mate, out of Leeper, PA.
My problem is that I now nothing about the unit and am unable to track down any info on it either -  even a phone call to a long-time employee of the manufacturer came up empty.  It is at the point where I believe I am the only one on the planet with a Car-Mate camper!  ANY information or leads I could follow up on would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance -

 

[SeilerBird]

Have you been to their website?

http://www.carmate-trailers.com/

 

[John From Detroit]

In addition to the web site,  There is not a whole lot of difference between one trailer and another.  I have helped set up trailers without the benefit of the manual several times,  There are only so many ways.

There are a couple of books which are "Generic Owner's Manuals" One is The RV Book, and I think the other is The RV Owner's Handbook. 

I got one of them (Forget which) when I got my motor home,  Actually, since these books were written BY RVers, FOR Rvers, not written by a company engineer like the Owner's manual is... They may do a better job on some sub-systems (I think the water heater is one such) than the factory books.

Also, all the "Sub systems" (IE: heaters, Coolers, and such) you can track down the manufacturer and download manuals for those as well.

Finally, a Request,  Track down your power converter if you have one.. Not all tiny trailers have 'em,  If you have one (This is the device that converts 120vac to 12vdc, it may be part of your fuse/breaker box if they are combined into one) Post make and model.. Some of them are fantastic,,, Some not so good.  That way we can warn you if it is a 'not so good' one.

 

[jazzbo]

Thanks SeilerB and John for your responses -

I have been to the Carmate website but unfortunately there is zero info there on their campers (which they quit making a number of years ago).
 
John -  I will definitely look into the two books you suggested.  I was really hoping to get some specs regarding empty weight and max gross weight as well as other model-specific info.  The title shows it to be 1992 with Gr. Wt. as 2990.  Measures about 8'wide and the body is about 13', the tongue length about 4'.

With regard to the power converter, it does have one, as well as a built in charger.  Rather than copy all the info, I took a photo so that I wouldn't miss giving you all the info you needed- see attached.  I will say that when I installed a fresh battery, I would hear a click noise from the converter area every minute or less (there was no A/C hooked up, just the battery).

I haven't had it on the road yet other than just to get it home.  Help is appreciated.

Jim   

 

[John From Detroit]

That is the the Magnatek 6300.. They are fairly good at boiling batteries dry if left plugged in too long.  Recommendations are as follows.

Use flooded wet cell type batteries so you can add DISTILLED water, Check often (like every week) and/or

UPGRADE the converter module..  (you can do that easily as it turns out).

How much of an issue this will be depends on your camping pattern however  But do keep an eye on the battery with that converter.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We can probably help you with much of what you need to know. The appliances and main systems are pretty generic, so if you can identify them (e.g. the Magnetec 6300 above is a well-known beastie) we can give you the basics. Or maybe even point out where to find a manual for them. You won't find a single owner manual like a care - few RV manufacturers published anything that comprehensive.